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argues that there has been a significant development with the process of
reviewing the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. To this
end, a commission has been set up, and mandated, to be in charge of
the reviewing process. The Respondent argues that, since the
commission is to collect the views of the public, the 2nd Applicant will
have an opportunity to give his views on the issue of independent
candidacy. There shall also be a Constituent Assembly which will
deliberate on the provisions of the new Constitution. The Respondent
therefore argues that the matter has been left to the people of Tanzania.
80.2 Unreasonable delay in filing the applications
The second preliminary objection raised by Respondent on admissibility
is based on Article 56(6) of the Charter, which requires that applications
be “... submitted within a reasonable period from the time local remedies
are exhausted or from the date the [Court] is seized with the matter”. The
Respondent contends that the Applicants took unreasonably too long to
bring their applications. It argues that whereas the Court of Appeal
handed down its judgment on 17 June 2010, it was not until 2 June 2011
and 10 June 2011 that the 1st Applicants and 2nd Applicant, respectively,
filed their applications.
80.3 Lack of jurisdiction
The other preliminary objection raised by the Respondent relates to the
issue of jurisdiction. Respondent argues that at the time of the alleged